


Executive Decision

by SleepySappho



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora Needs A Day Off, Bottom Adora (She-Ra), Canon Compliant, Catra Said Go The Fuck To Sleep, Collars, Dom/sub, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Morning Sex, Post-Canon, Praise Kink, Sleepy Cuddles, Sleepy Sex, Smut, Top Catra (She-Ra), tiniest hint of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:21:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28015383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepySappho/pseuds/SleepySappho
Summary: "Adora, do you want to take the day off?" Catra asks. Adora nods, wretchedly. She wants itso badly.Why can't she just… do it?Catra hums thoughtfully in response. "Would it be easier for you if I didn't give you a choice?"Adora can't make herself relax. Catracan.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 505





	Executive Decision

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so fucking tired have some sleepy cuddles and smut and shit, I'm just a lazy insomniac stressed-out bottom who wants to take a fuckin nap

Adora feels like shit. She'd fallen into bed last night, mentally and emotionally exhausted after another day of gruelling summits and negotiations, reparations and recriminations, helping to pick apart the impossibly tangled knot of hurt and pain decades of war had left on Etheria. She's almost jealous of Catra's notoriety (almost, she thinks guiltily, she does not think she could stand the accusatory stares and barely-veiled insults her love endures on a daily basis), since it excuses her from the more formal work of rebuilding the planet. 

But even as exhausted as she had been, sleep wouldn't come. Adora wasn't made for a whole day of sitting down, and her body had refused to reward her with sleep after such a sedentary day. It was only in the earliest hours of the morning that she had finally managed to drift off, her head tucked against Catra's chest, the sound of her breathing driving swirling thoughts of treaties and stipulations from Adora's mind.

The crystalline chime of her morning alarm is designed to be soft, soothing even. Right now it sounds worse than the old klaxons back in the Fright Zone. Adora groggily dismisses it with a wave of her hand, groaning in frustration. It can't be morning already. 

Catra's eyes slowly open, and even as miserable as Adora is right now, the sight of her love's eyes, foggy with sleep and unvarnished affection, makes her smile. She presses a greeting kiss to the tip of Catra's nose, prompting an amused snort from the magikat, who closes her eyes and nuzzles under Adora's chin. 

"What time did you get back in last night?" Catra asks, softly, pressing herself closer against the solid wall of Adora's warmth.

"Not sure," Adora replies, stroking a heavy, aching hand through Catra's hair. She'd started paying attention to proper maintenance of it for the first time in her life, wanting to ensure it grew out properly again after… everything. It is _so_ soft. 

Catra hums thoughtfully, the vibration blending with the beginnings of a purr in her chest, almost a gentle massage where her body is pressed against Adora's. "I miss you."

Catra's probably too sleepy to think through her words, to anticipate how that comment would lance painfully through Adora's chest, leaving her breathless. Adora presses a kiss to the top of Catra's head as an insufficient apology. She knows she's been gone too much recently, working too hard, coming dangerously close to breaking the promises she's made to look after herself, not give too much of herself away. She knows Catra is noticing, but she hasn't said anything. She's trusting Adora to know her own limits, believing her when she says it's not too much. Catra is trusting her to keep her promises. 

Adora wishes she were worthy of that trust. 

The agonizing chime of the alarm interrupts her thoughts again, and Catra growls softly, without real intent, as Adora pulls out of her embrace and sits up, shutting off the alarm once again. She stretches out, looking so soft and inviting, tempting Adora back down into touch and love and rest. 

Adora groans. "Stars, I don't want to get up today," she murmurs, rubbing at her eyes in a futile attempt to clear away some of the exhaustion. 

"So don't," Catra replies, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. "Come cuddle instead."

It sounds _so_ nice. "I wish," Adora grumbles. 

"Why can't you?" The magikat asks, eyes still closed. 

"It's not that simple," Adora replies, immediately regretting the condescension in her tone. She sighs. "There's just… so much to do."

"And lots of people to do it," her love shoots back. "You're allowed to take a day for yourself, princess. I know for a _fact_ Sparkles took a day off and left you holding the bag last week. Now it's your turn."

It's tempting. So very tempting, the thought of laying back down, curling up with the woman she loves, slipping back into peaceful, warm sleep together. Adora _wants_ it. 

"I, I can't," she whispers. "I want to but I just… can't." She knows it's awful of her. Knows it's because she's broken in the way that makes her want to fix everything else. She wants to blow it all off, leave the work up to Glimmer and Bow and everyone else, just let herself relax for once, but the thought paralyzes her with guilt. What if they need her? What if something terrible happens because she chose not to be there, what if someone is hurt because of _her,_ again? 

It's all the same shit that made her try to sacrifice herself at the heart, the same shit that made Catra walk away from her in the Whispering Woods, leaving her alone on her knees, crying. And that brings with it it's own wave of guilt because she should be _better_ than this. She should be able to take a day off without feeling like a criminal, should be able to give as much of herself to Catra as she promised she would, able to take care of herself. Not work herself to exhaustion, forcing the woman she loves to watch her endure day after agonizing day of overwork and frustration.

She's shaking, she realizes, the familiar leaps of panic beginning in her chest. Tears prick at the corners of her eyes. _Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid._

"Hey," Catra's voice draws her attention outward again. Adora turns her head, a sniffling breath betraying her thoughts if the shaking hadn't already. Catra is up now, kneeling next to her in bed, a hand cupping her cheek. "Tell me what's going on in that pretty head of yours."

Adora breathes, counts to seven, holds Catra's hand against her cheek in place with her own. "I… I just _can't,_ " she says, finally, feeling sick at the admission but also deeply, viscerally _relieved_ to be sharing it. "I know I'm doing too much, but I can't stop myself. And I know that's not fair to myself, or to you, but I… I don't know how to stop."

Catra rewards her with a smile, stroking a thumb along Adora's cheekbone. "Good girl," she murmurs, making Adora's face flush with heat against her palm. "Thank you for telling me." 

They stay like that for a moment longer, Adora relishing Catra's touch and her gaze, letting the immediate pleasure of the sensation calm her thoughts.

"Adora, do you want to take the day off?" Catra asks. Adora nods, wretchedly. She wants it _so badly._ Why can't she just… do it?

Catra hums thoughtfully in response. "Would it be easier for you if I didn't give you a choice?" 

The question sends a thrill racing through Adora's body. She knows it's a bad idea to rely too heavily on this, to blur the line too much between their games and the realities of their trauma as they work through it, but… it couldn't really hurt, just this once, could it? Just a little indulgence, to let her take what she wants, what she _needs,_ really, without having to feel guilty about it. 

Isn't learning to indulge herself the entire point?

Adora nods, and Catra presses their lips together, softly. "Good girl," she whispers, pulling away. "Lay back down. I'll take care of everything." 

Adora relaxes with a smile, sinking back into the bed and closing her eyes. She hears Catra get up, moving around the room. Part of her tries to pay attention to the soft pad of her lover's feet, to track her motion, but Adora reprimands herself for it. It's not her problem, not her _business_ what Catra is doing right now. She's taking care of it.

She hears the soft chime of the tracker pad initiating a call, and then Glimmer's voice. "Hey, I was just about to come look for you two. Adora's about to miss—"

"Don't bother," Catra interjects, her voice carrying all the authority and command of a force captain. Stars, Adora _loves_ it when she talks like that. "I'm keeping Adora today."

It's the way she phrases it—not _Adora's taking the day off_ or _Adora isn't feeling up to it_ but _I'm keeping Adora._ Like Adora's a possession Catra is refusing to lend out. Like she doesn't have a choice. 

Glimmer sighs. "I know she needs a break, but this isn't really a good day for it, is there any chance–"

"There isn't," Catra says with finality. "Whatever it is can wait. I've made my decision." 

_Her_ decision. 

Catra switches off the tracker pad before Glimmer can respond, and moments later she's crawling back into bed, wrapping her arms around Adora. "There," she whispers, "you're all mine, princess." 

Adora shivers pleasantly in her lover's arms. "That was hot," she murmurs, letting the warmth of Catra's body spread through her. "The way you handled Glimmer."

"Yeah? Well," Catra says, letting the points of her claws prick gently at the back of Adora's neck, "I'd much rather be handling _you._ Speaking of which…"

Adora keeps her eyes closed, not bothering to wonder at the meaning of the soft rustling she hears until it resolves into the whisper of leather around her neck. Catra loops the collar around her throat, and waits for Adora's eager nod before buckling it into place. 

" _Good_ girl," she coos, stroking her claws through Adora's hair. "There's my sweet, sweet pet. Just relax for me." 

It's so easy for Adora to let the exhaustion she feels bleed into the hazy, drifting mindset of submission. So easy to let her tired thoughts scatter before Catra's confidant insistence, to let her lover's words and voice guide her instead. There is no guilt, no shame, not when the choice is so far out of her hands. Just peace, and pleasure, and _Catra._

"Good girl," Catra repeats, and Adora squirms happily in her embrace at the praise. "Just go back to sleep, now."

"Mmm… not sleepy," Adora protests, ever so slightly.

Catra laughs. "Yes, you are." 

The response hits her like a hammer blow, the truth of it intensified by the authority Catra carries in this moment, everything she says becoming more true, more right. The force of it sends Adora reeling, falling deliciously deep into perfect obedience, sweetly riding the edge of unconsciousness. 

Adora whimpers, incapable of contradicting Catra a second time, rocking her hips forward as the force of the control and the command twists into arousal in her belly, perfectly complimenting her dizzying descent into thoughtless obedience. 

"Oh, you want me to take _care_ of you, don't you?" Catra whispers wickedly. Adora whimpers again, somehow even more needy, more pathetic. "Shh, don't worry princess. I've got you." Catra shifts against her, pushing a thigh between Adora's leg, grinding against her through the thin fabric of her underwear. It's slow, and lazy, and the rhythm they fall into is almost unconscious, instinctive. Adora sighs, the pleasure and the pressure filling her up so perfectly. She doesn't try to increase the pace, to chase after an orgasm. The lines between sex and sleep and cuddling are becoming so hazy, and all she really knows is that this feels _good,_ feels wonderful, and that she doesn't need to think about any of it. Catra is taking care of her. 

She does come, eventually, Catra's whispered words of praise dripping into her ear, and it's like the motion of their bodies, slow and sweet and all consuming. It doesn't crash over her, overwhelm her with sharp, ecstatic pleasure, but flows in like the tide, lapping a tiny bit higher with every wave, immersing her in an ocean of warmth and pleasure. 

Adora isn't even sure she was properly awake when it happened, doesn't know if the images filling her head are her imagination or scraps or dreams, but after her orgasm recedes the desire to sleep drags her down even further, perfect relaxation leaving her limp and loose in Catra's arms.

"Such a good girl, princess. So perfect for me," Catra whispers, making the last edges of Adora's consciousnesses glow with pride. "Sleep now, just rest for me. Dream beautiful dreams, and I'll be here to keep taking care of you when you awake." 

Catra's lips are feather soft brushing against her forehead. "I love you, princess."

The last thing Adora is aware of before the warm, welcoming darkness envelops her completely, is her releasing a soft, wordless noise, trying to say it back. 

Catra understands her meaning perfectly.


End file.
